The present invention relates to a guard to be applied to the door of an automobile so as to protect the door and adjacent areas of the body of the automobile from damage.
There has long been recognized the problem which is occasioned when automobiles are parked closely to each other, in parallel array, as on parking lots, the spacing between automobiles being so close that when the door of one automobile is opened, it strikes the adjacent automobile, along the sides of the body. This problem has resulted in a number of suggestions for guards to be attached to the doors and adjacent areas of the sides of the bodies of the automobiles, to be engaged by the opening door of the adjacent automobile, in order to provide a protection against damage, as by the denting of the body of the automobile, or the scratching of paint therefrom.
Hoshell U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,223 discloses a molding intended to be attached to an automobile door, and including telescopic tubes, with clips at their ends, to engage the edges of the car door. This guard is provided, internally, with a metal spring, for exerting a force on the clips, so as to maintain the door molding in position. Sauer U.S. Pat. No. 3,367,702 is of like effect, both patents disclosing complex mechanical structures. While these door moldings or door guards are satisfactory when applied, the springs are subject to deterioration with age, as may occur with rusting, and therefore may break. When this occurs, there is no longer present a tension force applied to the clips, holding the door guards onto the door, and as a result, the door guards will fall off. Further, these door guards protect only the door to which they are attached, and do not protect the entire length of the automobile body side which is subject to damage. These structures are also subject to being detached as by wind forces or the striking of them in a manner to cause them to elongate.
Zientara U.S. Pat. No. 2,889,165 provides a non-adjustable door guard having spring-urged clips for engaging the edges of the car door, and is therefore subject to some of the same deficiencies as noted above.
Martinez U.S. Pat. No. 3,882,574 also discloses a non-adjustable door guard, comprising a tube of plastic material, and end clips inserted into the tubes. Due to the lack of adjustability, this door guard would require custom manufacture for each width door, of which there are many in existence.
James U.S. Pat. No. 4,002,363 and Newman Et Al U.S. Pat. No. 3,309,129 disclose linear or rod-like door guards intended to protect more than just the door portion of an automobile body side; the former patent construction comprises a number of sections which are connected together, the entire door guard being attached to the edges of the wheel wells of the automobile, and thus must be removed prior to entry into the automobile, while the latter patent construction simply comprises a plurality of magnetically attached bars, independent of each other, thereby requiring that each be handled separately, and detached from the automobile to provide access to the interior. While such disclosures provide for protection of substantially the entire length of the body side of the automobile which is subject to damage from the opening of the doors of adjacent automobiles, due to their construction requiring removal to gain access, they are not facile.
Glassberg U.S. Pat. No. 3,704,037 and Richter U.S. Pat. No. 3,610,684 are examples of panels which are supported on automobiles, as from the door handle or door lock, and which extend forwardly and rearwardly from the read edge of the front door of the automobile, to provide protection for a limited length of the automobile body side.
Yet another proposal of the prior art is found in Neslund U.S. Pat. No. 2,611,637, in which the body guard is made of two telescopic tubes having integral end clip portions, and a nut and screw arrangement for causing telescopic collapsing of the tubes in order to provide the necessary tension on the telescopic tubes, so that the door guard would remain in place; this suggestion provided no possibility of guarding any portion of the body beyond the door, was deficient in that it required a screw driver to be used adjacent the exterior of the door, with resulting possibility of scraping of the paint by the screw driver, and also is deficient because the screw is subject to loosening with resulting decrease in tension and loss of the door guard from the automobile door.